Thursday 10 November 2016

Review R2 - El Dorado 25 year old (1980)

Photo copyright © Master of Malt
Watery sirup, with a Demerara aftertaste.

Information
The regarding legendary El Dorado, this is the pinnacle of their creations: The 25 year old.
This one from the class of 1980.

Whereas other El Dorado rums are consistant products always available, the 25 year old is only made once in a while. I believe there was one made in the 70s, and then the 1980 came along, before the most recent, the 1986, was born.

Nose
Huge molasses and juicy, fruity scents right off the bat.
Prunes, dates, rum soaked raisins and marmelades of blackberries and apricots.
Then roasted almonds and smoky oak.

Reading through my notes, it should feel like quite the experience, but for some reason it feels constrained or muted. Somekind of blur refuses to let all the great scents out properly.
But I'm sure there is proper Demerara greatness in there.

Taste
I can't believe what happened next. I don't think I have ever been so disappointed with a rum before.
Mind you, this is a 25+ year old Demerara. A certain recipe for greatness.

And the first thing that rolls over my palate is thin syrup of some sort.

It does bring some familiar Demerara flavours like fat, juice, wine soaked oak, the dried fruits and marmelades from the nose.

But everything that could have been great, has been smothered in this thin, watery syrup.

Finish
The oaky flavours hold on for quite some kind, along with a sticky, cloying mouthfeel of goddamn sugary water. Boring. Indifferent. Disappointing.

What ticks me off the most is, that beneath all the sugar, there is actually a lot of the things I love about old Demeraras. And the more time that passed, the more of these flavours actually emerge when the sugary tastes fade.

Rating and final thoughts
It could have been one of the greatest, but it is closer to the other extreme of the scale.
I know I'm going to piss somebody off with the following sentence: This is my least favourite El Dorado rum so far - and by far.

The good nose, which promised so much, that the palate couldn't deliver on.
The disappointment of such a potentially great rum.
The sugary horror. This is just a plain, horrible rum.

I'm not even going to talk about the price of it, because you're going to think that I'm insane or added a zero too much.

Meh...


Rating: 65/100

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